Sad News

So today's big news is that our head housekeeper, Natalie, had to leave the ranch. She was going through quite a rough time in her marriage and was taking the summer to have some time apart from her husband. Apparently things did not work out with him, and she decided to hit the bottle during work hours. Myself and another office worker had to make up the rollaway beds on Sunday because she had disappeared for a bit. Apparently, it got worse on Monday and today another co-worker drove her to Boise.

It is very sad, because she was one of my favorite people here. It is sad because she was my partner for wine night, oops. It is mostly sad, though, because we all go through crappy bottomless pit times and it hurts to see somebody else there. I did get to talk to her briefly before she left, which was the most honest conversation I've had since I've been here. It felt really good to share a moment with her, but my thoughts are with her finding her way....if anyone ever truly finds their way.

Sushi in Ketchum

Monday evening I hopped on board for a sushi trip to Ketchum with some of the "kids". By kids, I refer to the staff that are in their 20s and all live up in the Roost over the dining room. They are known for their late night parties, which surprisingly I've only joined in on one time so far! We had a great time eating sushi and then wandering around the town. We also caught a great sunset on the way home from Galena Summit. From left to right: Anne-Marie from Reno, NV, who is fun to host with on Friday nights; Dylan: the driest comedian on the ranch who does a bit of everything for work, Tiffany: who worked in Antarctica last year, now works in housekeeping, me, and Jason: who is a hilarious waiter from Mississippi.

Hiking- Yellow Belly Lake

Monday morning, Pat-the-Baker (not to be confused with Patrick-the-server) and I, set out on a hike towards Farley Lake. We never found the turnoff for Farley, but we made it beside Pettit Lake and circled most of Yellow Belly Lake. It was a beautiful day and the views were quite varied.

Days on the Ranch

Just a couple pictures of sagebrush and sunset on the ranch........

Horseback Riding

Monday and Tuesday were my first days off. Not one to waste trades, I booked a massage on Monday and a horseback ride on Tuesday. The massage was lovely, I was upgraded to the teepee! It was lovely to be massaged in a teepee, although I have to say once you close your eyes to relax, the only real difference is the sound of birds. Okay, I'll be honest, I'm just not down with a male masseuse, unless I'm dating him. But other than that, it was spectacular.

Tuesday, Heather, the Sarah Vowell of the ranch, and I went on a 3-hour horseback ride along trails on the ranch property. The two young eighteen year old wranglers that we had seen goofing off and generally being teenagerish at our employee meals seemed so much older and capable once they were on horses. Heather and I, on the other hand, both felt much less capable without our own two feet under us. Heather is 20, almost the youngest employee, very quiet and not particularly outdoorsy. This is her second year working at the ranch though, so she must like some part of it. She had never been horseback riding till yesterday and we might go on her first hike next week. All that said, she has the driest, wittiest sense of humor. Yes, I'm learning from her.

The ride was great. It was an absolutely beautiful day. We were with seven of the guests, so got to hear some of their stories of jobs and life. We rode up Gold Creek to the top of a mountain with more views of the Salmon River. Then back down to the ranch. The only downside, my back and bum are on fire! I tried to hop in the hot springs pool last night, but it was full of guests! (as if!) Hopefully I'll time my soak better tonight.

Guests Arrive

Friday was our first day with guests! All that training paid off- the first day went off without a hitch!

On Fridays I work as a P.M. Host, which means that I serve wine to the guests, help seat them for dinner and generally make sure they are happy. I admit I had a flashback part way through the evening, I was carrying a bottle of wine with two glasses on a tray, and I flashed back to being about 4 or 5 years old and pretending to be a waitress to my stuffed animals- I guess the games you play as a child do lead you to jobs! I've never been any sort of server in my life, but I gotta say, serving wine to people sure makes them happy- how great is that!! I also discovered how nice it is to be from Asheville. Our name tags announce our hometowns on them, and apparently everybody has either been or heard great things about Asheville (of course). It is a great conversation starter.

There was a small accident after the serving was over, a 1-yr old girl went back to her cabin with her parents and pulled the screen in front of the cabin's fireplace down on her forehead. All was well, but the ambulance came to take her to the nearest hospital to check her out- the nearest hospital is an hour a way.

Saturday and Sunday are my earliest days to work- 7:30 a.m. till 4:00 p.m. On these days I'm the Office Manager, while Barbara has her two days off. Basically, I do all the accounting (read bookkeeping) for the day and make sure the Office Assistant doesn't need help checking people in or out. I believe that I sufficiently impressed my boss with my Excel Spreadsheet skills. The only hard part is assisting people on choosing hikes, since I've only been a few of them so far.

Last night, Sunday, I attempted to start my own wine night here. Natalie and I sat outside, it's finally warm and lovely here, and had a couple glasses of wine. Then the other folks from out house joined us too. It was lovely.

I think the part I love best about being here is feeling completely disconnected from the world. (Not that I don't miss people!) We are surrounded by two strings of mountains and I feel like they keep out all the news and speed of the world. I have just finished the book, "The Short, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao." It was such a good read and very much spoke to me. It is a fictional story, but tells a lot of the history of the Dominican Republic, of which I knew nothing. And I gotta say, really made me appreciate living here (as in our country, not the west).

I went on another hike Saturday evening, near Red Fish Lake. I'm sorry to say I forgot my camera, but it was beautiful. It was much more in the trees and meadow than my first hike. It looked very similar to hiking at home. Spring is just beginning to spring here, so all the trees leaves are baby green. Although the creeks are running full speed.

Random items I've learned over the last couple of days:
-Mexican cows look like long horn cows, but their horns are stronger and they are better for roping. (from the wrangler)
-Steel bridges are painted with a primer that weighs 17lbs/gallon. (Dawin, the cook)
-Custer County (the one I'm in) is the only county in the state that does NOT have a stoplight. (the man who picked up the recycling)

SNOW!

And finally, the weather, from what I understand there is a heat wave in NC and OH……….










Here is the slice of sunshine we got yesterday!

First Hike on Sunday

I went on my first hike, Boundary Creek Trail, on Sunday. It was an absolutely gorgeous day. The hike was pretty straight up, but I had to keep turning around to see the view. Eventually, I could see across the road an over the next hills to
Redfish Lake. Here are several pictures :













Notice how the texture of the tree looks like the inside of a Butterfinger candy bar.








Yes, even in the middle of the woods, I like to be the star of the show:

Friday & Saturday

This past Friday night, I went out on the town in Stanley with several co-workers. Yee-haw. There are a whopping three bars to choose from. We tried out Erica’s favorite, the Rod & Gun- yes, that’s right. What can I say about the Rod & Gun? Well, picture your college bar, the dirty one with a couple old pool tables, a scary floor and bathroom, and as many dirty old men as you can fit in a small space. The great thing about dirty old men is that they are lot more honest than young suave gelled men. But then they cross some line and their honesty is outweighed by their…well, vocabulary, but all in all it was fun night out with a bunch of the younger set of the crew. Then we came home and got in the hot springs pool. I wish I could’ve taken a picture of the stars, it was absolutely incredible. There wasn’t much black between all the twinkles and the Milky Way was so beautiful.

Saturday, I made it into the big town, Ketchum, to see Indiana Jones. The movie was okay, too many special effects took away from the story in my view, but the buttery popcorn and city feel made the hour drive into town worth it.

Firestarter

Hi guys! So we’ve training 10 hour days here. I think I’m ready for guests to come, but you never know till they get here! One of my tasks is making the fire in the large lobby fireplace. As shown, I have successfully mastered the task.

Office

This the office that I work in with 3-4 other people. It is a small space for that many people, but so far so good. There is one computer for reservations, another for email and another for the Boss, Sandra. There are lots of systems for doing everything and everybody seems to do everything. If they asked me, perhaps more clearly defined divisions of responsibility might help us from running into each other and from having anything fall through the cracks, but as we are still in training, it seems bad form to express my opinion quite yet, and hey, maybe I don't know it all...yet.

The door that you see leads to a guest services corner in the lobby main lobby. The windows look out the back of the lodge, as we call it for the one Lodge Room that also looks out that direction, "a view of a sagebrush covered hill."

There are 24 keys to keep in order! 24 rooms, not 3 gzillion apartment units! cake I tell you!

I must go off to the Hot Pool now!

Thursday Training

So today's training was to ride into and around town with my fellow office workers, Syliva & Barbara, so that we can properly handle questions from guests and guide them to the activities of their pleasure.


This is the local meditation center. They have Catholic Service, Christian Assembly and two Mormon services. I don't know a whole lot about Mormon-ism, except of course, the recent news about the some of the more fundamental ones. So far I'm gathering that being Mormon in the west is sort of like being Baptist in the south- by which I mean there are a lot of them. And the fundamental ones that believe in several wives are disapproved of by the mainstay of the Mormon Church.







A closer view of the stained glass windows.







A tepee at the local spa. You can get a massage in the tepee. Hmm... who in Stanely, ID could you give a gift certificate to for a massage for their birthday in July? did I mention that it was the Meadow Creek Inn & Spa in Stanley? subtle, I know.






More gorgeous mountains with a gorgeous field of flowers in front of it









Stanley Lake with McGown Peak in the background. Stanley was named for James Stanley- the first prospector to come for mining-there was gold in them hills! McGown was named for some brothers with oxen.



A view of the small town of Stanley. There is Stanley and Lower Stanley. Combined, I'd say they are about the size of Hot Springs, NC...maybe a little smaller.






There is a lodge, merchandise grocery store, gas station and several other buildings in Stanley that are all owned by the Harrahs. Yes, as in the Harrahs of Las Vegas that also own the casino in Western North Carolina. Due to death in the family and not wanting to hold onto the property in Stanley, the combined real estate is for sale. I believe the asking price is around $20 million, but I'd guess it's about a fourth of the whole business of town. And real estate prices here makes Asheville real estate look puny, so I'd say it's a bargain!

The coolest part of the trip today, though, was the fish hatchery. I knew squat about fish. Salmon float, not swim, 900 miles downstream to the ocean and then make it all the way back (using their sense of smell!). Then they mate one time and die (no messy emotional break-ups). Of course, now that there are damns along the way to the ocean, not so many fish make it back. In fact, last year, only one sockeye salmon made it back to the fish hatchery. The purpose of the fish hatchery to hatch as many salmon (chinook & sockeye) and steelhead trout(a form of rainbow trout) as possible, grow them big and strong, send them off into the river along to the ocean...and hope that they come back. Apparently, almost all salmon that we eat is farm bred- which can be in a inland body of water or the ocean, but the fish don't have to swim as far and they are fed the same thing every day by humans. Which means, according to some, that they are not as healthy for us, but in exchange we get the electricity off the damns. More room for debates.